The majority of the board on Monday leaned toward supporting the expansion of their Spanish language immersion program to fifth grade by 2015 by adding one grade each year. A vote on the commitment to further expansion will likely come before the board June 4.

Board members said they were eager to further prop up the increasingly popular Spanish language program, which includes instruction in both English and a foreign language. They said they also hoped to quell concerns of the language immersion supporters, many of whom attend meeting after meeting to advocate for the cause.

As of Monday night, 30 students had turned in applications for first grade Spanish immersion, and 18 had turned in applications for the second grade class. One section of half-day kindergarten was enrolled with 25 students, while 17 remained on the waitlist.

The district also once tried to offer a Mandarin Chinese language immersion class in kindergarten, but could not drum up enough students to enroll in the class. A similar pre-K class is available.

The district's new direction follows a trend that started decades ago, but has ramped up in recent years. While districts like Portland Public Schools have long-established language immersion programs, others are just starting to catch up: the nearby West Linn-Wilsonville School District just decided to restart a Spanish program in two new primary schools slated to open this fall.

Board member Bob Barman, who visited a Minnesota school district earlier this year to study their immersion programs, urged Lake Oswego to commit to more than just a K-5 program: he wanted two language immersion classrooms per grade.

“As far as the immersion, this district has got to get with it,” Barman said. “Immersion isn’t a 'today' thing... It was (here) 7, 8, 10 years ago.”

Many questions about the program’s expansion still remain, including whether or not the district wants to continue offering kindergarten classes in language immersion.

Administrators on Monday recommended that first grade -- rather than half-day Spanish immersion -- become the entry level for the program. Half-day instruction, administrators wrote, “does not give adequate exposure to the target language.” That recommendation included discontinuing half-day Spanish immersion after 2012-13.

But a number of board members seemed loath to accept that notion. Barman said he would never support taking away the kindergarten level for Spanish immersion, and board member Teri Oelrich advocated keeping the classes as an “exploratory year” for families curious about the program.

Parent Sarah Howell also expressed her support for the kindergarten program. Howell, a fervent language immersion supporter, told the board she and other parents have produced flyers and are holding fundraisers to keep the program alive in any way possible.